Digital Modelling and Finite Element Analysis of a Restored Trullo in Southern Italy

This contribution is concerned with an ancient building located in Apulia (Southern Italy), conceived according to the classical dry stone architecture "a trullo"and dating back to the beginning of XX century. This trullo was recently restored and enlarged by specialized stonemasons. Thanks to the wide photographic documentation of the last interventions, endowed by an in situ conventional relief, it was possible to analyse the entire process from the standpoint of the materials and of the complex stone architectures, including corbelled vaults and conical roofs constituted of multiple layers. Three-dimensional digital models of the entire construction with its interiors were realized in Rhinoceros platform, suitable to be imported into the commercial finite element software Abaqus. Preliminary finite element analyses of the building, assumed to behave linearly elastically, were carried out under quasi static and dynamic loading. In agreement with the recent Italian technical standards for constructions, the seismic excitation was simulated by means of spectrum compatible accelerograms through a linear dynamic incremental procedure.